The difficulty of maneuvering tractor-trailer rigs in close quarters and confined areas is well known. In addition, most tractor-trailer rigs offer the operator only very obstructed views to the rear, causing un-necessary danger to the operator of the vehicle and motorists and pedestrians nearby. Better sight lines would dramatically alleviate such problems.
The present invention teaches a monitor allowing the driver of the vehicle to more safely operate the vehicle. The monitor is arranged to show both sides of the trailer and even to swivel with the trailer so as to continuously maintain those views, and yet, the camera mount is on the tractor portion of the rig, and thus requires no additional connections to the trailer, no mounting of cameras on the trailer, and so on.
As used herein, the terms “fifth-wheel vehicle”, “vehicle”, “fifth-wheel rig”, “fifth-wheel truck” and “truck” are defined to include tractor-trailer combinations, tractor-semi-trailer combinations, combinations including larger numbers of units such as doubles, triples, and even vehicle combinations which strictly speaking fall outside the area of commercial long haul trucking, for example, those pickup trucks having fifth wheel equipment for the purpose of hauling large agricultural, stock, or recreation trailers. Any vehicle combination having a fifth wheel arranged to receive a the kingpin of a trailer or semi-trailer may benefit from the present invention and will be referred to herein under the generic term of “truck”, while terms such as tractor or trailer will be used to refer to more specific portions of the combination. This definition of “truck” specifically excludes, for purposes of this application, disclosure and claims, such other transportation which does NOT have fifth-wheel gear, this definition even excludes non-fifth-wheel trucks. The word “trailer” as used herein specifically includes semi-trailers, agricultural or livestock trailers, recreation trailers and any other device pulled by means of a fifth wheel/kingpin arrangement, and may be generalized to include vehicles pulled by means of other common towing arrangements.
The issues of ease of maneuvering and providing driver/operators with safe views are multifaceted. Even the drivers of passenger vehicles such as sedans must contend with the blind spot, that region behind the driver and just to each side of the vehicle. In the case of trucks, this blind spot grows to a great size. In the case of the ordinary semi-trailer, the blind spot may be 50 feet (over 15 meters) or more. In the case of a “Rocky Mountain Double” comprising a tractor, a semi-trailer, and a trailer following the semi-trailer, the rig may have a blind spot over 100 feet (over 30 meters) in length. The traditional structure for mitigating the blind spot was a copious supply of oversized mirrors, especially a combination of flat and convex mirrors. Convex mirrors provide a wider angular line of sight, however, reduce the size of objects they display, distort proportions, and make objects appear to be further away than they really are. More importantly, when the trailer and tractor are at an angle, the mirrors on one side of the tractor are rendered effectively useless: the trailer is no longer oriented along the line of sight offered by the mirror, or the trailer blocks all views in any case. These are not desirable visual properties for a truck operator to have to contend with in safe operation of the vehicle.
One more modern solution to this problem is the video monitor. A video camera may be placed on the truck to show the rear-view on a cab-mounted monitor. In general, known video systems are mounted either on the tractor or on the semi-trailer. Surprisingly, this solution is not popular among truck operators. There are several reasons for the unpopularity of known video systems. If the camera is mounted on the trailer, then it must be connected to the tractor when the trailer is connected and disconnected when the trailer is disconnected. In addition, the monitor in the tractor will be useless when the trailer is one having no camera's installed, and should an unequipped trailer be pulled, the driver will be forced to suddenly readjust to a different and more demanding style of driving. In addition to that, most organizations own far more trailers than tractors, making it economically disadvantageous to equip every trailer this way. Forcing the driver to adapt this way places an un-necessary demand on the driver's skills.
If the camera is mounted on the tractor without the ability to automatically change direction, these problems are replaced by more serious ones. In particular, one very useful mode of employment of the invention occurs at low speeds, when the driver is maneuvering the truck in light quarters, is backing to a loading dock, is surrounded by workers on foot or commuters in cars, etc. In these situations, the use of the camera and monitor become very important, but the flexibility of the tractor-trailer combination will often defeat the camera. If the camera is mounted on the tractor and is unable to follow the rotation motion of the trailer, the view of the camera will normally be obstructed to some degree. However, when the tractor and trailer make a turn or maneuver, they will be at some angle to each other and the degree of blockage will increase. The tractor mounted camera will then have the entire trailer acting a large wall to block it's view. As the trailer may be several meters tall, many meters long, and may reach an angle of 90 degrees with the tractor or in extreme circumstances even more than 90 degrees, the result is that the operator will suddenly find themselves with a very large blind spot just when they most require the camera's operation.
This blind spot also results in widespread hidden economic costs. The process of backing up becomes much more time and labor intensive, not to mention more prone to causing property damage to the cargo, the trailer and nearby structures. In one frequent situation, the operator must get out of the vehicle and examine directly the situation, before resuming control of the rig, backing up a modest amount, and repeating the process again.
These safety issues are vital not just to the truck operator and to motorists in general, but also to the pedestrians on the street or at work sites, loading docks, truck stops, factories, commercial buildings and any other locations at which the truck may operate. These safety issues further have a direct impact on the cost of insurance and thus a direct impact on the costs of truck operations.
In addition, tractor-trailer rigs are susceptible to a problem commonly referred to as “jack-knifing” in which the tractor and trailer reach a relative angular position well in excess of 90 degrees. Any solution should offer the operator the ability to continue to see the blind spot even at angles in excess of 90 degrees, and obviously should not damage the trailer, tractor, or viewing equipment.
Various attempts have been made to address these problems.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,530,421 issued Jun. 25, 1996 to Marshall et al teaches an interesting electronic system for automated control of a system of cameras based upon the activities of the operator of the truck. For example, placing the truck in a reverse gear, activating turn signals or hazard lights may all alter the choice of camera which the monitor displays. However, as the system is electronic there is no mechanical method disclosed for keeping the camera properly oriented to serve the needs of the driver, nor is the device king-pin related, nor does it disclose the structures of the present invention.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,225,895 issued May 1, 2001 to Bigelow, Jr teaches a system for monitoring of the tires of a vehicle being towed, specifically, for monitoring tire pressure. In embodiments, video cameras may be mounted on the towed vehicle. It does not disclose the structures of the present invention, such as video cameras mounted upon the correct portions of the towing vehicle.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,104,538 issued Aug. 15, 2000 to Ben-Ghiath teaches a number of complex mirrors and optical devices for providing panoramic views optically. It does not appear to disclose mounting of cameras on a towing vehicle so as to swivel properly when a trailer rotates.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,991,863 issued Feb. 12, 1991 to Hosmer teaches an anti-jackknife apparatus mounted close to the kingpin of a fifth wheel rig. However, the system does not disclose the use of video camera, nor means of automatically aiming them.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,285,278 issued Sep. 4, 2001 to Schutt et al also teaches an electronic system for monitoring a fifth wheel hitch. The system does not use video cameras, nor does it disclose the structures of the present invention.
Finally, U.S. Design Pat. Des. No. 419,092 issued Jan. 18, 2000 to Gildersleeve teaches a monitor for trailer hitch watching trailer hitch alignment. It does not apparently disclose the structures or concepts employed outside of the vehicle.
The present invention is notably different in structure and concept from these prior art references. In addition, the problems discussed previously, and others, are solved by the present invention.